Historical Traveler Reviews Claremont Hotel Club & Spa Berkeley

Grand Old Hotel

from tk1559

I made reservations at the Claremont before I read the other reviews here, I was nervous about what we were going to find. We arrived on Saturday and were treated with graciousness by the staff. We were given a third floor Bay View room. We were late to get to dinner because we ended up standing at the window watching the sunset over San Francisco (the sun dipped just below the Golden Gate Bridge). If you're looking for ultramodern, this is not the place. The facility has been modernized and is very attractive, but it's a grand OLD style hotel-- very wide hallways and huge rooms. Our room featured a king size bed, a wonderful 20's style love seat and chairs, tasteful wall paper and art.

The walk-in closet was larger than some rooms I've had in Europe and the bathroom was as large as the Hilton room we had in Gilroy the night before. Service was excellent, the bed and pillows VERY comfortable, and the room was absolutely silent. We heard no noise from the hall, outside, or any of the other rooms. Unfortunately we didn't eat there because we had reservations at Scott's in Oakland (excellent), but look forward to coming back. We have a daughter at CAL, so for the future this will be our Berkeley hotel of choice. Last note, I took a chance and had my wife flush the toilet while I was in the shower and found no change in water temperature. So it you're looking for the ambience of years gone by, I have to recommend this as an excellent choice.

Burned

from anonymous

My husband and I stayed at the Claremont in Berkley on February 15, 2004 (room 311). That evening, as he was taking a shower, I flushed the toilet and the water in the shower scalded him. He could still feel the discomfort the next day. Please be careful if you stay here with children. The water can burn them. We reported the incident when we checked out. The lady apologized and said she would have someone look into the problem.

Bad Start, Good Finish

from anonymous

Went out to the Claremont for a family wedding in August. Trip started poorly as the hotel had cancelled/altered some of our guests' reservations (upwards of 30 people). But after we relaxed in our room for a bit (the room was spacious-good closets, sizable bathroom, comfy bed, bay view), things started to improve. The pool was wonderful, the spa impressive and the rehersal dinner at Jordan's excellent. The service was generally above average but could have been better at times. Overall, the property was beautiful-can't beat the view of the bay- I would stay again. (A few cute places to eat nearby helped too!)

Stranded in Berkley

from anonymous

During Christmas break my family (Wife, 2 yr old, myself) pulled over in pouring rain unable to continue south to Los Angeles. It was five p.m. The Berkley Clairmont told us they had space. We were given a room that smelled of mould and old cigarette smoke overlooking an air conditioner on a roof for $181. Didn't sleep much from the rumbling in a room below us which sounded like a kitchen of some sort. In the morning we woke up to an invoice that had been slipped under our door to the tune of $280 and change. A number of taxes and fees including Spa tax and Luxury tax etc. As we were getting into our car and the valet waited for his tip we found out from another patron that not only was the hotel pretty much empty out of (280 rooms) but he had booked a room the night before for $157. I will be forwarding this to a friend of mine who is a corporate planner.

Nickel & Dime

from anonymous

The accommodations were acceptable, the bathroom well-lit but not enough space to put things like a toiletry bag - had to put mine on the window sill. Thought I got a reasonable room rate, as I called the hotel personally and asked if they could match the best rate I had found on the internet. Upon arrival, I found there was an $11 per day surcharge for "use of the pool, coffee and tea in the room, and such". At no point when I was on the phone or on the internet was this charge mentioned. You cannot opt not to use the facilities and avoid the fee. My cousin joined me at the pool and they wanted to charge her $20! I think that by low-balling the room rate and adding the mandatory fee, the Claremont is guilty of deceptive advertising.

Awful

from anonymous

This hotel is old, broken, distasteful decore, rude service, lacks up to date computer technology. The only good thing about this hotel is the water pressure in the shower. STAY AWAY THIS PLACE IS AWFUL!

Landmark hotel in Berkeley

from anonymous

Beautiful hotel and grounds, nice view. I paid for a bayview room with whirlpool tub, but was placed on a low floor and I had an obstructed view of the bay. For the price I expected a unobstructed upper floor view. All in all I like this hotel and would stay there again.

Security is Bad!

from anonymous

I had a break in to my room and security said they could find nothing that indicated theft. The security is horrible. The hotel is great aside from that, but I could not believe the total inability of security to come up with eveidence of a break in eithe through cameras or electronic key entry.

Overpriced, but nice atmosphere

from anonymous

The treatments were way overpriced, but enjoyable. With treatments come the use of the whirlpool, sauna & deluge shower. If you want to use the pool or gym, you need to purchase over $270 in treatments or a day package, which I thought was rediculous. I paid $182 for a massage & pedicure. There is a mid-week discount (about 13% off), which I thought was nice. The therapeutic massage included a heated table & relaxing nature sounds playing in the background. The pedicure was enjoyable, and the staff was friendly. The common area was very nice, with a great view from the whirlpool. Would have expected nicer room for the massage, though, and the salon was pretty average-looking. Nice experience, but way overpriced.

Overpriced for the poor service

from anonymous

This older hotel is a Berkeley landmark. A beautiful older building that has recently changed ownership a few years ago, it features gorgeous views of the sf bay from the majority of its rooms, great restaurants, and a great spa. The problems that I encountered seemed to be with the new management. Front desk service was often unresponsive to errors that they had made (lost my reservation) and then had lost the gift certificate that had been applied to my account. In addition, the management is apparently in negotiations with their staff about providing affordable health benefits for its employees, and has been written up by authorities for trying to block the formation of a union by its employees. We were greeted on a recent mother's day by protesters at the resort's front gate because of these issues. The bedding looks like it hasn't been updated since the 70's (in my room), and I woke up with a sore back because of the poor mattress. In addition, it seems like management may have pared down the number of staff working, because during rush periods you may not get the service that you might expect for paying $900 for a single night's stay (i had to wait 2 hours for room service to deliver). Overall, this is a good place for a quick visit to the spa or restaurant, but i would recommend staying in a cheaper nearby hotel for accomodations.

TripAdvisor Reviews Claremont Hotel Club & Spa Berkeley

Excellent

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